Shin Bet Files Complaint Against Israeli TV Channel Over Netanyahu's Secret UAE Visit

Israel's General Security Service, the Shin Bet, has filed a complaint with the Chief Military Censor against Channel 12, alleging a "serious censorship violation." The complaint, announced by the Prime Minister's Office on Monday, states that the timing of the news report about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's secret visit to the United Arab Emirates endangered the premier, the operation, and the forces involved.

The Shin Bet further asserted that the report revealed the agency's operational methods, thereby jeopardizing future missions. The agency emphasized that the publication also put the lives of the Prime Minister, his wife, and their accompanying delegation at risk. The delegation included the head of the Mossad, the National Security Advisor, the Military Secretary, the head of the Shin Bet's security division, and the aircraft and security crews.

The complaint specifically targets the broadcast of the news at 9:38 PM, while the prime minister's plane was still far from Israeli airspace, landing about an hour later at 10:27 PM. A Mossad assessment, cited in the Prime Minister's Office statement, deemed the leak a "serious security threat to the prime minister and the delegation" and requested the incident be classified as a grave event harming Israel's national security.